Friday

Mar 28, 2014 at 10:04 PM

On Friday morning, House Speaker Nicholas A. Mattiello’s new deputy majority whip — Joseph Almeida — appeared at the Board of Elections with an accountant to ask what he had to do to get out from under a campaign-finance mess.

PROVIDENCE — On Friday morning, House Speaker Nicholas A. Mattiello’s new deputy majority whip — Joseph Almeida — appeared at the Board of Elections with an accountant to ask what he had to do to get out from under a campaign-finance mess.

At this point, state Representative Almeida, D-Providence, owes $1,239 in fines for not filing three of the four campaign fundraising and spending reports due in 2013.

Perhaps more significantly, the Board of Elections felt compelled to refer a campaign-finance case involving Almeida’s “misreporting’’ of contributions and expenditures to the attorney general for investigation in January.

As The Providence Journal reported at the time: the board’s staff reviewed financial documents from July 1, 2008, to Dec. 31, 2012.

Among its findings: Almeida’s campaign had failed to report $8,195 in donations and $9,729 in expenses and had issued $3,908 in checks payable to “cash” or Almeida himself with no explanation for the spending.

Almeida could not be reached for comment on Friday. Asked the status of the case in late February, Attorney General Peter Kilmartin’s spokeswoman Amy Kempe said: “The office has received the files and is reviewing them to determine appropriate action.”

On Friday, Kempe said the matter is still under review.

A summary that the Board of Elections’ campaign finance administrator Richard Thornton provided The Journal in January said:

“On August 27, 2012, I sent Almeida a letter requesting copies of bank records and supporting documentation to conduct an audit. After not receiving all of the information requested, on May 23, 2013, I issued a subpoena to Almeida’s bank requesting bank records.

“On October 23, 2013, I sent Almeida a letter detailing the findings of the audit and requested a return response by Oct. 31, 2013 to schedule settlement discussion. No response was received.’’

“On November 5, 2013, a second notice was sent. No response was received.’’

Among the findings of the audit: “Reporting discrepancies were noted when comparing donations made by PACs to Almeida and Almeida’s reported receipt of PAC contributions …’’

The “misreported contributions’’ included donations ranging from $100 to $1,000 from “Friends of Nick Mattiello,’’ former House Speaker William J. Murphy, the RI House Leadership PAC, the Fund for Democratic Priorities, the RI State Association of Firefighters and the Cranston Firefighters PAC, among others.

The board forwarded the case to the attorney general after two unsuccessful tries to begin settlement discussions with Almeida.

On Tuesday, Almeida emerged from the power struggle at the State House as a key player on Mattiello’s leadership team. He was elected deputy majority whip by the House Democratic caucus moments after Mattiello, D-Cranston, was elected speaker.

The mid-session vote for new speaker followed the abrupt resignation of former Democratic House Speaker Gordon D. Fox after a state and federal raid of his home and office a week ago.

On Friday morning, Robert Kando, the election board’s executive director, acknowledged that “it is rather rare’’ for his board to refer a case to the attorney general. In this case, he said the board felt it had no choice.

“We wanted to perform an audit. We didn’t get … [all of the] information we needed … We had sent some letters to him, that he hadn’t responded to, asking for information.’’

Kando said Almeida came into the Board of Elections about 10 a.m. Friday with an accountant for an explanation as to where the case stood, and then left without taking any further action.

“But I am hopeful he will file the necessary documents with us … and the attorney general, I am sure, will take that into consideration,’’ Kando said.

House spokesman Larry Berman said the new speaker was unaware of this history. And now that he knows it, “I don’t think he has any concerns as long as it is taken care of.’’

“Representative Almeida went to the Board to Elections this morning and he informed Speaker Mattiello that he is taking full responsibility. He has retained a new campaign treasurer, who is a certified public accountant, and he is in the process of reviewing past reports. He will soon correct past reporting errors and file new reports that are past due.”

Berman said Almeida had identified the CPA to him as Ronald Fortes.

Almeida has had a history of financial troubles that came to light in May 2007, after then-House Speaker William J. Murphy appointed him to one of the most powerful of House committees, the one that grills state department heads on the finances of their departments.

At that point, Almeida had declared bankruptcy five times in a six-year period, and had an ongoing bankruptcy case in federal court. He also had liens on his property from the Internal Revenue Service and Domestic Bank, had nearly lost his house in a mortgage-foreclosure auction and had been forced to close the Eddy Street bar he operated for two decades.

Almeida is a retired Providence police officer, with a $3,147.40 a month — $37,769 a year — disability pension. His biography on the General Assembly website says he “is now self-employed as a financial strategist and … the owner of Essence Construction.’’